Systems and methods for providing predicted web page resources

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can receive a web page request associated with a user ID from a client computing device. A set of gatekeeper conditions is determined based on the user ID. A set of predicted resources is determined based on the set of gatekeeper conditions. An initial package of resources is transmitted to the client computing device in response to the web page request. The initial package of resources comprises the set of predicted resources.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of web page transmission.More particularly, the present technology relates to systems and methodsfor web page transmission based on predicted web page resources.

BACKGROUND

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a widevariety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices, for example,to interact with one another, create content, share content, and viewcontent. In some cases, a user can utilize his or her computing deviceto access a social networking system (or service). The user can provide,post, share, and access various content items, such as status updates,images, videos, articles, and links, via the social networking system.In certain scenarios, a user can access the social networking system byusing a computing device to load a web page (or web site).

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toreceive a web page request associated with a user ID from a clientcomputing device. A set of gatekeeper conditions is determined based onthe user ID. A set of predicted resources is determined based on the setof gatekeeper conditions. An initial package of resources is transmittedto the client computing device in response to the web page request. Theinitial package of resources comprises the set of predicted resources.

In an embodiment, a set of gatekeeper condition-resource associations isgenerated. The set of gatekeeper condition-resource associationsassociate one or more gatekeeper conditions with one or more resources.The set of predicted resources is determined based on the set ofgatekeeper conditions and the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations.

In an embodiment, a request for an additional resource is received fromthe computing device. The set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations is updated based on the request for the additionalresource.

In an embodiment, a resource counter associated with the additionalresource is incremented in response to the request for the additionalresource.

In an embodiment, one or more gatekeeper condition-resource paircounters are incremented in response to the request for the additionalresource.

In an embodiment, the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations is performed based on the incrementing the resource counterand the incrementing the one or more gatekeeper condition-resource paircounters.

In an embodiment, the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations comprises calculating a conditional probability indicativeof a probability that a particular resource will be requested given aparticular gatekeeper condition.

In an embodiment, the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations comprises determining that a first conditional probabilityrelating a first resource with a first gatekeeper condition satisfies aconditional probability threshold.

In an embodiment, the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations comprises associating the first resource with the firstgatekeeper condition based on the determining that the first conditionalprobability satisfies the conditional probability threshold.

In an embodiment, the initial package of resources further comprises oneor more high frequency resources.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including a resource predictionmodule, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example resource association module, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example predicted resource module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example functional block diagram associated withproviding an initial package of resources, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example functional block diagram associated withupdating gatekeeper condition-resource associations, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method associated with transmitting a webpage based on predicted resources, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Predicted Web Page Resources

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a widevariety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices, for example,to interact with one another, create content, share content, and viewcontent. In some cases, a user can utilize his or her computing deviceto access a social networking system (or service). The user can provide,post, share, and access various content items, such as status updates,images, videos, articles, and links, via the social networking system.In certain scenarios, a user can access the social networking system byusing a computing device to load a web page (or web site).

When a user attempts to access a web page, such as a web page on asocial networking system, a client computing device used by the user cantransmit a request for the web page. The request can be received at oneor more web servers. For example, the one or more web servers can beassociated with the social networking system. The one or more webservers can respond to the web page request by transmitting one or moreresources that can be utilized by the client computing device to loadthe web page. Resources can include, for example, HTML, Javascript,and/or CSS files or modules.

Under conventional approaches, when one or more web servers receive aweb page request from a client computing device, the one or more webservers can respond by transmitting to the client computing device aninitial set of resources. The initial set of resources can include oneor more resources that can be used by the client computing device toload at least a portion of a web page. However, it can be difficult todetermine exactly what resources a client computing device will need inorder to fully load a web page. This may be the case, for example, if aweb page has various dynamic elements that differ depending on the useraccessing the web page. For example, on a social networking system,different users may be presented with different content or features,such that a first user having access to a first set of content orfeatures may require a first set of resources to load a web page, whilea second user having access to a different set of content or featuresmay require a different set of resources to load the web page.

One reason that users of a social networking system may be provided withaccess to different content or features may be due to variousexperiments being conducted by the social networking system. Forexample, a particular experiment may include a certain subsets of users,such that the subset of users may receive access to particular contentor features based on their inclusion in the particular experiment. Assuch, users that are included in the experiment may require particularresources in order to load the content or features associated with theexperiment. Conversely, other users that are not included in theexperiment may not require the resources that are needed to load theaforementioned content and/or features.

Since the exact set of resources required for a web page cannot alwaysbe immediately determined, the initial set of resources transmitted to aclient computing device may not represent a complete set of resourcesrequired to load a web page. As such, as the client computing deviceloads the web page using the initial set of resources, it may bedetermined that additional resources are required in order to fully loadthe web page. The client computing device can transmit one or morerequests for the additional resources. In response, the one or more webservers can retrieve and transmit the additional resources to the clientcomputing device. However, this back-and-forth communication between theclient computing device and the one or more web servers cansignificantly increase the time that it takes to load a web page. Slowweb page load times can result in a negative user experience wheninteracting with a web page.

An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes theforegoing and other disadvantages associated with conventionalapproaches specifically arising in the realm of computer technology. Ingeneral, a request for a web page (i.e., a web page request) can bereceived from a client computing device. The request can be associatedwith a particular user, for example, by being associated with a user ID.A determination can be made as to whether or not the user is aparticipant in any experiments. In certain embodiments, each experimentof a set of experiments can be associated with a gatekeeper function.The user ID associated with the web page request can be provided as aninput to each gatekeeper function of a set of gatekeeper functions. Eachgatekeeper function can output a result. For example, if there are threegatekeeper functions, each associated with its own experiment, each ofthe three gatekeeper functions can be provided with the user IDassociated with the web page request. Each gatekeeper function canreturn either a “pass” result indicating that the user ID is aparticipant in an experiment associated with the gatekeeper function, ora “fail” result indicating that the user ID is not a participant in theexperiment associated with the gatekeeper function.

Each gatekeeper function-result pair can define a gatekeeper condition.In an embodiment in which each gatekeeper function can result in eithera “pass” result or a “fail” result, each gatekeeper function can definetwo gatekeeper conditions: gatekeeper_pass and gatekeeper_fail. Eachgatekeeper condition can be associated with one or more resources. Forexample, a first gatekeeper function, GK_A, can have two gatekeeperconditions: GK_A_pass or GK_A_fail. The gatekeeper condition GK_A_passmay be associated with a first set of resources, while the gatekeepercondition GK_A_fail, may be associated with a second set of resources.This may be indicative of the fact that if a user is included in anexperiment associated with the gatekeeper function GK_A, resulting inthe gatekeeper condition GK_A_pass, the user may have access to certainfeatures. Conversely, if the user is not included in the experimentassociated with the gatekeeper function GK_A, resulting in thegatekeeper condition GK_A_fail, the user may not have access to thosefeatures. As such, each gatekeeper condition will require differentresources to load the different sets of features.

As mentioned above, a user ID associated with a web page request can beprocessed through a set of gatekeeper functions, yielding a set ofgatekeeper conditions. For example, if there are four gatekeeperfunctions, GK_A, GK_B, GK_C, and GK_D, a user ID can be provided to eachof the four gatekeeper functions to yield a set of gatekeeperconditions, such as: [GK_A_pass, GK_B_pass, GK_C_fail, GK_D_pass]. A setof predicted resources can be identified based on the set of gatekeeperconditions. In certain embodiments, the set of predicted resources cancomprise an aggregation of resources associated with gatekeeperconditions in the set of gatekeeper conditions. The set of predictedresources can be provided to the client computing device as part of aninitial package in response to the web page request. In certainembodiments, the initial package can be understood as a set of resourcestransmitted to a client computing device in response to an initial webpage request. In certain embodiments, the initial package of resourcesis transmitted to the client computing device before the clientcomputing device transmits any requests for additional resources. Byproviding a set of predicted resources in the initial package, thenumber of follow-up requests for additional resources required to load aweb page can be minimized. In various embodiments, associations betweengatekeeper conditions and resources can be predictively determined basedon historical data. Associations between gatekeeper conditions andresources can be periodically updated based on additional resourcesrequested by client computing devices after receiving an initialpackage. Additional details about the disclosed technologies will beprovided herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including a resource predictionmodule 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Theresource prediction module 102 can be configured to receive a requestfor a web page (i.e., a web page request) from a client computingdevice. The request can be associated with a particular user through,for example, a particular user ID associated with the user. The resourceprediction module 102 can determine whether or not the user is aparticipant in any experiments. In certain embodiments, the resourceprediction module 102 can make this determination by inputting a user IDassociated with a web page request through a set of gatekeeperfunctions. Each gatekeeper function can be associated with a particularexperiment. When a user ID is provided to the set of gatekeeperfunctions, each gatekeeper function can output a result. In certainembodiments, each gatekeeper function can return either a “pass” resultindicating that the user ID is a participant in the experimentassociated with the gatekeeper function, or a “fail” result indicatingthat the user ID is not a participant in the experiment associated withthe gatekeeper function. Each gatekeeper function-result pair can definea gatekeeper condition. As such, by processing the user ID through theset of gatekeeper functions, the resource prediction module 102 candetermine a set of gatekeeper conditions based on the user ID associatedwith the web page request.

The resource prediction module 102 can determine and maintain a set ofassociations between gatekeeper conditions and resources. For example,if a set of gatekeeper functions includes two gatekeeper functions, GK_Aand GK_B, then four gatekeeper conditions are possible: GK_A_pass,GK_A_fail, GK_B_pass, and GK_B_fail. Each of these four gatekeeperconditions can be determined to be correlated and/or associated with aparticular set of resources. In certain scenarios, certain gatekeeperconditions may be associated with one or more resources while othergatekeeper conditions may not be associated with any resources. Theresource prediction module 102 can be configured to determineassociations between gatekeeper conditions and resources based onhistorical web page data. For example, if web page requests resulting inthe gatekeeper condition GK_A_fail consistently result in an additionalrequest for a particular additional resource, Resource X, it can bedetermined that Resource X is associated with the gatekeeper conditionGK_A_fail. The resource prediction module 102 can be configured toperiodically update associations between gatekeeper conditions andresources so that more recent web page data can periodically beincorporated into gatekeeper condition-resource associations.

As discussed above, when a web page request associated with a user ID isreceived, a set of gatekeeper conditions can be determined for the webpage request based on the user ID. The resource prediction module 102can identify a set of predicted resources based on resources associatedwith the gatekeeper conditions contained within the set of gatekeeperconditions. The resource prediction module 102 can provide the set ofpredicted resources to the client computing device as part of an initialpackage in response to the client computing device's web page request.The resource prediction module 102 can also be configured to keeprecords of any additional resources requested by the client computingdevice subsequent to receiving the initial package. The resourceprediction module 102 can update associations between resources andgatekeeper conditions based on additional resources requested by clientcomputing devices.

As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the resource prediction module 102can include a page request module 104, a resource association module106, and a predicted resource module 108. In some instances, the examplesystem 100 can include at least one data store 110. The components(e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in this figure and all figuresherein are exemplary only, and other implementations may includeadditional, fewer, integrated, or different components. Some componentsmay not be shown so as not to obscure relevant details. In variousembodiments, one or more of the functionalities described in connectionwith the resource prediction module 102 can be implemented in anysuitable combinations.

In some embodiments, the resource prediction module 102 can beimplemented, in part or in whole, as software, hardware, or anycombination thereof. In general, a module, as discussed herein, can beassociated with software, hardware, or any combination thereof. In someimplementations, one or more functions, tasks, and/or operations ofmodules can be carried out or performed by software routines, softwareprocesses, hardware, and/or any combination thereof. In some cases, theresource prediction module 102 can be implemented, in part or in whole,as software running on one or more computing devices or systems, such ason a user or client computing device. For example, the resourceprediction module 102, or at least a portion thereof, can be implementedas or within an application (e.g., app), a program, or an applet, etc.,running on a user computing device or a client computing system, such asthe user device 610 of FIG. 6. In another example, the resourceprediction module 102, or at least a portion thereof, can be implementedusing one or more computing devices or systems that include one or moreservers, such as network servers or cloud servers. In some instances,the resource prediction module 102 can, in part or in whole, beimplemented within or configured to operate in conjunction with a socialnetworking system (or service), such as the social networking system 630of FIG. 6. It should be understood that there can be many variations orother possibilities.

The resource prediction module 102 can be configured to communicateand/or operate with the at least one data store 110, as shown in theexample system 100. The data store 110 can be configured to store andmaintain various types of data. In some implementations, the data store110 can store information associated with the social networking system(e.g., the social networking system 630 of FIG. 6). The informationassociated with the social networking system can include data aboutusers, user identifiers, social connections, social interactions,profile information, demographic information, locations, geo-fencedareas, maps, places, events, pages, groups, posts, communications,content, feeds, account settings, privacy settings, a social graph, andvarious other types of data. In some embodiments, the data store 110 canstore information that is utilized by the resource prediction module102. For example, the data store 110 can store web page resources,historical web page data, a set of gatekeeper condition counters, a setof resource counters, a set of gatekeeper condition-resource paircounters, gatekeeper condition-resource association information, and thelike. It is contemplated that there can be many variations or otherpossibilities.

The page request module 104 can be configured to receive a web pagerequest from a client computing device. In certain embodiments, a webpage request can be associated with a particular user. For example, theweb page request may be associated with a particular user ID.

The page request module 104 can also be configured to determine a set ofgatekeeper conditions based on the user ID associated with the web pagerequest. A web page associated with a web page request can be associatedwith a set of gatekeeper functions. The set of gatekeeper functions caninclude any suitable number of gatekeeper functions (e.g., onegatekeeper function, two gatekeeper functions, etc.). In certainembodiments, each gatekeeper function can be associated with aparticular experiment being conducted by a web page provider (e.g., by asocial networking system). The page request module 104 can provide theuser ID as an input to each gatekeeper function of the set of gatekeeperfunctions to obtain a set of gatekeeper conditions. For example,consider an example scenario in which a set of gatekeeper functions hasthree gatekeeper functions: GK_A, GK_B, and GK_C. In this examplescenario, six gatekeeper conditions are possible: GK_A_pass; GK_A_fail;GK_B_pass; GK_B_fail; GK_C_pass; and GK_C_fail. Then, consider a furtherexample scenario in which a particular user, User A, is included in afirst experiment associated with Gatekeeper GK_A, is not included in asecond experiment associated with Gatekeeper GK_B, and is included in athird experiment associated with Gatekeeper GK_C. In this scenario,provision of User A's user ID to the set of gatekeeper functions wouldresult in the following set of gatekeeper conditions: [GK_A_pass;GK_B_fail; GK_C_pass]. Although various example embodiments describedherein will involve the use of gatekeeper functions and gatekeeperconditions, it should be understood that in various embodiments, anyindicator of whether or not a user is included in an experiment can beused.

The resource association module 106 can be configured to determineassociations between one or more gatekeeper conditions and one or moreresources. In various embodiments, the resource association module 106can determine associations between gatekeeper conditions and resourcesbased on historical web page data. As described in greater detailherein, when a client computing device requests a particular web page,the client computing device can be provided with an initial package ofresources. The client computing device can begin loading the web pagebased on the initial package of resources. However, during loading ofthe web page, if the client computing device determines that additionalresources are required (i.e., resources not included in the initialpackage of resources), the client computing device can transmit one ormore requests for the additional resources. A web server that receives arequest for an additional resource can respond by retrieving theadditional resource and transmitting it to the client computing device.The resource association module 106 can be configured to keep record ofthese requests for additional resources. These requests for additionalresources represent potential inefficiencies, as they indicate resourcesthat were not included in the initial package and required additionalrequests by a client computing device and additional transmissions froma web server.

In addition to tracking requests for additional resources, the resourceassociation module 106 can also be configured to keep record ofgatekeeper conditions associated with each web page request. Bymaintaining historical web page data, the resource association module106 can be configured to identify relationships between resources andgatekeeper conditions. For example, if a gatekeeper condition GK_A_passconsistently results in an additional request for a Resource X, theresource association module 106 can determine that Resource X is likelyassociated with the gatekeeper condition GK_A_pass. Based on historicalweb page data, the resource association module 106 can determine a setof associations between gatekeeper conditions and resources. Certaingatekeeper conditions may have one or more associated resources, whileother gatekeeper conditions may have none. The resource associationmodule 106 is described in greater detail herein with reference to FIG.2.

The predicted resource module 108 can be configured to identify a set ofpredicted resources for a web page request, and to transmit the set ofpredicted resources as part of an initial package sent to a clientcomputing device in response to the web page request. As describedabove, when a web page request is received, a set of gatekeeperconditions can be determined for the web page request based on a user IDassociated with the web page request. As was also introduced above,certain gatekeeper conditions in the set of gatekeeper conditions may beassociated with one or more resources. The predicted resource module 108can identify a set of predicted resources for a web page request byaggregating all resources associated with gatekeeper conditionscontained in the set of gatekeeper conditions. The set of predictedresources can be transmitted to a client computing device as part of aninitial package in response to the web page request. The predictedresource module 108 is described in greater detail herein with referenceto FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example resource association module 202 configuredto determine associations between one or more gatekeeper conditions andone or more resources, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, the resource association module 106 ofFIG. 1 can be implemented as the resource association module 202. Asshown in the example of FIG. 2, the resource association module 202 caninclude a gatekeeper condition counter module 204, an additionalresource module 206, and an association determination module 208.

The gatekeeper condition counter module 204 can be configured tomaintain a set of gatekeeper condition counters. Each gatekeepercondition counter can be associated with a particular gatekeepercondition, and can be indicative of how many times the particulargatekeeper condition has occurred. As discussed above, when a web pagerequest is received, a set of gatekeeper conditions can be determinedfor the web page request. For example, if a set of gatekeeper functionshas three gatekeeper functions (e.g., GK_A, GK_B, GK_C), six gatekeeperconditions are possible (GK_A_pass, GK_A_fail, GK_B_pass, GK_B_fail,GK_C_pass, GK_C_fail). A set of gatekeeper conditions for a particularweb page request will include three gatekeeper conditions (i.e., a passor a fail for each gatekeeper function). The gatekeeper conditioncounter module 204 can be configured to maintain a gatekeeper conditioncounter for each possible gatekeeper condition. When a gatekeepercondition occurs for a particular web page request, the gatekeepercondition counter module 204 can increment the gatekeeper conditioncounter associated with the gatekeeper condition. In this way, thegatekeeper condition counter module 204 can maintain a running total ofhow many times each gatekeeper condition has occurred across all webpage requests (e.g., for all time, or during a specified period oftime).

The additional resource module 206 can be configured to receivenotifications of any requests for additional resources, and to maintaina set of resource counters. Each resource counter can be indicative ofhow many times a particular resource has been requested as an additionalresource. As discussed above, when a client computing device requests aparticular web page, an initial package of resources can be transmittedto the client computing device. The client computing device can beginloading the web page based on the initial package of resources. However,if the client computing device determines that one or more additionalresources are required, the client computing device can transmit one ormore requests for the one or more additional resources. The additionalresource module 206 can receive an indication that the client computingdevice has requested an additional resource, and can increment aresource counter associated with the additional resource. In this way,the additional resource module 206 can maintain a count of how manytimes each resource has been requested as an additional resource acrossall web page requests.

The additional resource module 206 can also be configured to maintain aset of gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters. Each gatekeepercondition-resource pair counter can indicate how many times a particulargatekeeper condition and a request for a particular additional resourcehave occurred together. For example, consider an example scenario inwhich there are three gatekeeper functions: GK_1, GK_2, and GK_3. Auser, User A, requests a web page. It is determined that User A passesGK_1, fails GK_2, and passes GK_3. As such, the set of gatekeeperconditions for User A's web page request is as follows: [GK_1_pass;GK_2_fail; GK_3_pass]. User A's client computing device receives aninitial package of resources for the web page. However, the clientcomputing device determines that it must request three additionalresources: Resource X, Resource Y, and Resource Z. Based on this webpage request, the following gatekeeper condition and resource countersare incremented:

-   -   a gatekeeper condition counter for GK_1_pass is incremented;    -   a gatekeeper condition counter for GK_2_fail is incremented;    -   a gatekeeper condition counter for GK_3_pass is incremented;    -   a resource counter for Resource X is incremented;    -   a resource counter for Resource Y is incremented; and    -   a resource counter for Resource Z is incremented.        Furthermore, gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters are        incremented for each resource/gatekeeper condition pair, i.e.:    -   [GK_1_pass, Resource X]    -   [GK_1_pass, Resource Y];    -   [GK_1_pass, Resource Z];    -   [GK_2_fail, Resource X];    -   [GK_2_fail, Resource Y];    -   [GK_2_fail, Resource Z];    -   [GK_3_pass, Resource X];    -   [GK_3_pass, Resource Y]; and    -   [GK_3_pass, Resource Z].

The association determination module 208 can be configured to determineassociations between gatekeeper conditions and resources based onhistorical web page data. Historical web page data can include, forexample, a set of gatekeeper condition counters, a set of resourcecounters, and/or a set of gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters.In certain embodiments, associations between gatekeeper conditions andresources can be determined based on a conditional probabilitycalculation that relate a particular resource to a particular gatekeepercondition. For example, each conditional probability calculation can bea probability that a particular resource will be requested as anadditional resource given that a particular gatekeeper condition istrue. For example, a probability that a particular resource, Resource X,will be required given a particular gatekeeper condition, GK_1_pass, canbe expressed as follows:P(X|GK_1_pass)=P(GK_1_pass|X)*P(X)/P(GK_1_pass),where P(X|GK_1_pass) is the probability of Resource X being requestedgiven gatekeeper condition GK_1_pass; P(GK_1_pass|X) is the probabilityof gatekeeper condition GK_1_pass being true given that Resource X wasrequested as an additional resource; P(X) is the probability of ResourceX being requested as an additional resource; and P(GK_1_pass) is theprobability of the gatekeeper condition GK_1_pass being true. Thisprobability calculation can be performed using the gatekeeper conditioncounters, resource counters, and gatekeeper condition-resource paircounters described above:

-   -   P(GK_1_pass|X) can be calculated as count(GK_1_pass)/count(X),        i.e., the gatekeeper condition counter for GK_1_pass divided by        the resource counter for Resource X;    -   P(X) can be calculated as count(X)/count(total), i.e., the        resource counter for Resource X divided by the total sum of all        resource counters; and    -   P(GK_1_pass) can be calculated as        count(GK_1_pass)/(count(GK_1_pass)+count(GK_1_fail)), i.e., the        gatekeeper condition counter for GK_1_pass divided by the sum of        the gatekeeper condition counter for GK_1_pass and the        gatekeeper condition counter for GK_1_fail.

By calculating conditional probabilities for each resource-gatekeepercondition pair, correlations can be determined between resources andgatekeeper conditions. For example, if a conditional probability for aparticular resource given a particular gatekeeper condition exceeds aprobability threshold (e.g., exceeds 90%), the association determinationmodule 208 can associate the particular resource with the particulargatekeeper condition. In certain embodiments, conditional probabilitiesfor each resource-gatekeeper condition pair can be periodicallyre-calculated. For example, conditional probabilities can bere-calculated every five minutes. In certain embodiments, conditionalprobabilities can be re-calculated based on the most recent data suchthat stale or irrelevant data is not used. For example, in certainembodiments, when a conditional probability is calculated, only datafrom the previous hour can be used, i.e., each counter only includesinstances that occurred within the past hour. For example, eachgatekeeper condition counter can include only instances of gatekeeperconditions that occurred within the past hour, or each resource countercan include only instances of additional resource requests that occurredwithin the past hour. In certain embodiments, each conditionalprobability can be calculated every five minutes based on the pasthour's worth of counter data.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example predicted resource module 302 configuredto identify a set of predicted resources for a web page request, and totransmit the set of predicted resources to a client computing device aspart of an initial package in response to the web page request,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the predicted resource module 108 of FIG. 1 can beimplemented as the predicted resource module 302. As shown in theexample of FIG. 3, the predicted resource module 302 can include apredicted resource determination module 304 and a resource transmissionmodule 306.

The predicted resource determination module 304 can be configured toidentify a set of predicted resources for a web page request. In certainembodiments, the set of predicted resources for a web page request canbe determined based on a set of gatekeeper conditions determined for theweb page request. As discussed above, when a web page request isreceived, a set of gatekeeper conditions can be determined based on auser ID associated with the web page request. As was also discussedabove, each gatekeeper condition can be associated with zero or moreresources. The predicted resource determination module 304 can identifya set of predicted resources for a web page request by aggregating allresources associated with the set of gatekeeper conditions determinedfor the web page request.

The resource transmission module 306 can be configured to transmitresources to a client computing device. In certain embodiments, theresource transmission module 306 can transmit an initial package ofresources to a client computing device in response to a web page requestreceived from the client computing device. In certain embodiments, theinitial package of resources is transmitted in response to the web pagerequest, and is not transmitted in response to any subsequent requestsfor additional resources from the client computing device. In certainembodiments, the initial package of resources can include a set ofpredicted resources, e.g., the set of predicted resources determined bythe predicted resource determination module 304. Furthermore, in variousembodiments, the initial package of resources can include otherresources that are not in the set of predicted resources. For example,the initial package of resources can also include a set of highfrequency resources associated with a web page. The set of highfrequency resources can include one or more resources that have beendetermined to be required by all users or substantially all users thatrequest a web page. For example, if all users accessing a socialnetworking system web page are presented with the same header, then anyresources required to load the header may be included in the set of highfrequency resources.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example functional block diagram 400 associatedwith providing an initial package of resources in response to a web pagerequest in accordance with functionality of the resource predictionmodule 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Atblock 402, a web page request is received from a client computingdevice. At block 404, a set of high frequency resources is determined.At block 406, a set of gatekeeper conditions is determined based on auser associated with the web page request. At block 408, a set ofpredicted resources is identified based on the set of gatekeeperconditions. At block 410, the set of high frequency resources and theset of predicted resources are transmitted to the client computingdevice as part of an initial package of resources.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example functional block diagram 450 associatedwith updating a set of gatekeeper condition-resource associations inaccordance with functionality of the resource prediction module 102,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. At block 452, aweb page request is received from a client computing device. At block454, a set of gatekeeper conditions is determined based on a userassociated with the web page request. At block 456, gatekeeper conditioncounters are incremented for each gatekeeper condition of the set ofgatekeeper conditions. At block 458, a notification is received that theclient computing device has requested a set of additional resources. Atblock 460, resource counters are incremented for each additionalresource of the set of additional resources. At block 462, gatekeepercondition-resource pair counters are incremented for each gatekeepercondition-resource pair that includes a gatekeeper condition in the setof gatekeeper conditions and a resource in the set of additionalresources. At block 464, gatekeeper condition-resource associations areupdated based on the gatekeeper condition counters, the resourcecounters, and the gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 associated with transmitting aweb page based on predicted resources, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 502, the example method 500 can receive a web page request froma client computing device, the web page request associated with a userID. At block 504, the example method 500 can determine a set ofgatekeeper conditions based on the user ID. At block 506, the examplemethod 500 can determine a set of predicted resources based on the setof gatekeeper conditions. At block 508, the example method 500 cantransmit an initial package of resources to the client computing devicein response to the web page request, wherein the initial package ofresources comprises the set of predicted resources.

It is contemplated that there can be many other uses, applications,and/or variations associated with the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For example, in some cases, user can choose whether or notto opt-in to utilize the disclosed technology. The disclosed technologycan also ensure that various privacy settings and preferences aremaintained and can prevent private information from being divulged. Inanother example, various embodiments of the present disclosure canlearn, improve, and/or be refined over time.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 600 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The system 600 includes one or more user devices610, one or more external systems 620, a social networking system (orservice) 630, and a network 650. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 630. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system600, shown by FIG. 6, includes a single external system 620 and a singleuser device 610. However, in other embodiments, the system 600 mayinclude more user devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are separatefrom the social networking system 630 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 630 and the external systems 620 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 630. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 630 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 620, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices that canreceive input from a user and transmit and receive data via the network650. In one embodiment, the user device 610 is a conventional computersystem executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatible operatingsystem (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 can be a device having computerfunctionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, etc. The user device 610 isconfigured to communicate via the network 650. The user device 610 canexecute an application, for example, a browser application that allows auser of the user device 610 to interact with the social networkingsystem 630. In another embodiment, the user device 610 interacts withthe social networking system 630 through an application programminginterface (API) provided by the native operating system of the userdevice 610, such as iOS and ANDROID. The user device 610 is configuredto communicate with the external system 620 and the social networkingsystem 630 via the network 650, which may comprise any combination oflocal area and/or wide area networks, using wired and/or wirelesscommunication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 650 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 650 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network650 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 650 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content from theexternal system 620 and/or from the social networking system 630 byprocessing a markup language document 614 received from the externalsystem 620 and from the social networking system 630 using a browserapplication 612. The markup language document 614 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 614, the browser application 612 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 614. For example, the markup language document 614includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 620 and the social networking system 630. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 614 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 620 andthe user device 610. The browser application 612 on the user device 610may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document614.

The markup language document 614 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the SilverLight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or more cookies616 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 610 islogged into the social networking system 630, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system630 to the user device 610.

The external system 620 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 622 a, 622 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 610 using the network 650. The external system 620 is separatefrom the social networking system 630. For example, the external system620 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 630 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 622 a, 622 b, included in the external system 620, comprise markuplanguage documents 614 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content.

The social networking system 630 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 630. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 630 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 630 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 630. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 630 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 630 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 630 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 630 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 630 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system630 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 630. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 630 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 630. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 630,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 630 or inthe external system 620, separate from the social networking system 630,or coupled to the social networking system 630 via the network 650.

The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 630 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 620 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 630 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 630. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 630 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 630 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system630. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 630. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 630 from a userdevice 610. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 630.In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 630.

The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632, an APIrequest server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection store 638, anaction logger 640, an activity log 642, and an authorization server 644.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 630 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 636 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 630. This information is storedin the user profile store 636 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 630 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store638. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 630 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 630, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 638.

The social networking system 630 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 636and the connection store 638 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 630. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store636 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 630initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 630, the social networking system 630 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 636, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 620 or connections to other entities. The connection store 638may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile store 636, andthe activity log 642 enables the social networking system 630 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 630, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 636 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 630. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 630 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 630). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 630. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 630 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to one or moreuser devices 610 and/or one or more external systems 620 via the network650. The web server 632 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 632 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system630 and one or more user devices 610. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 634 allows one or more external systems 620 anduser devices 610 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 630 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server634 may also allow external systems 620 to send information to thesocial networking system 630 by calling APIs. The external system 620,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system630 via the network 650, and the API request server 634 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 634 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 634 communicates to the external system 620via the network 650. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 634 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 620, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 620. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 communicates with the social networkingsystem 630 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 620.

The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity log 642 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system630 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 630 and outside of the social networking system 630.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 630 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 642 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 630 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 630, the action isrecorded in the activity log 642. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 630 maintains the activity log 642 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system630, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 642. Theactivity log 642 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 630,such as an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630. For example, the action logger 640 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 620 fromthe web server 632. In this example, the external system 620 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system620 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 620 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system630 that discusses an external system 620 or a web page 622 a within theexternal system 620, a user posting to the social networking system 630a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 620, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630.

The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 630. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 620, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems620. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 620 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 620 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 620 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 620 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 620, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 620 may need authorization from the authorization server644 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 644 determines if another user, the external system620, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can include aresource prediction module 646. The resource prediction module 646 can,for example, be implemented as the resource prediction module 102, asdiscussed in more detail herein. As discussed previously, it should beappreciated that there can be many variations or other possibilities.For example, in some embodiments, one or more functionalities of theresource prediction module 646 can be implemented in the user device610.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a computer system 700 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein according to an embodiment ofthe invention. The computer system 700 includes sets of instructions forcausing the computer system 700 to perform the processes and featuresdiscussed herein. The computer system 700 may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the computersystem 700 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a clientmachine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine ina peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 700 may be the social networkingsystem 630, the user device 610, and the external system 620, or acomponent thereof. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 700 may be one server among many that constitutes all or part ofthe social networking system 630.

The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache 704, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710couples processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/O busbridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network interfaces 716 couple to highperformance I/O bus 706. The computer system 700 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 718 and I/O ports 720 couple to the standard I/Obus 708. The computer system 700 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 716 provides communicationbetween the computer system 700 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 718 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor702. The I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 700.

The computer system 700 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 704 may be on-chip with processor 702. Alternatively,the cache 704 and the processor 702 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 700being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 700 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 700 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system700, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 702.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 718. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 716. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a computing system, a web page request associated with auser ID from a client computing device, wherein the user ID isassociated with a user; generating, by the computing system, a set ofgatekeeper condition-resource associations that associate a set ofgatekeeper conditions with a set of predicted resources; determining, bythe computing system, a subset of gatekeeper conditions based on theuser ID; determining, by the computing system, a subset of predictedresources based on the subset of gatekeeper conditions; transmitting, bythe computing system, an initial package of resources to the clientcomputing device in response to the web page request, wherein theinitial package of resources comprises the subset of predictedresources; receiving, by the computing system, a request for anadditional resource from the client computing device; updating, by thecomputing system, the set of gatekeeper condition resource associationsbased on the request for the additional resource, wherein the updatingincludes incrementing a resource counter associated with the additionalresource; and transmitting, by the computing system, the additionalresource to the client computing device in response to the request forthe additional resource.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the subset of predicted resources is determined based on thesubset of gatekeeper conditions and the set of gatekeepercondition-resource associations.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: incrementing gatekeeper condition countersassociated with the subset of gatekeeper conditions, wherein thegatekeeper condition counters indicate total numbers of times the subsetof gatekeeper conditions were used for a specified period of time. 4.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set ofgatekeeper conditions are associated with a pass or a fail for a set ofgatekeeper functions.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising incrementing one or more gatekeepercondition-resource pair counters in response to the request for theadditional resource.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5,wherein the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations is performed based on the incrementing the resource counterand the incrementing the one or more gatekeeper condition-resource paircounters.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein theupdating the set of gatekeeper condition-resource associations comprisescalculating a conditional probability indicative of a probability that aparticular resource will be requested given a particular gatekeepercondition.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein theupdating the set of gatekeeper condition-resource associations comprisesdetermining that a first conditional probability relating a firstresource with a first gatekeeper condition satisfies a conditionalprobability threshold.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8,wherein the updating the set of gatekeeper condition-resourceassociations comprises associating the first resource with the firstgatekeeper condition based on the determining that the first conditionalprobability satisfies the conditional probability threshold.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the initial package ofresources further comprises one or more high frequency resources.
 11. Asystem comprising: at least one processor; and a memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe system to perform a method comprising: receiving a web page requestassociated with a user ID from a client computing device, wherein theuser ID is associated with a user; generating a set of gatekeepercondition-resource associations that associate a set of gatekeeperconditions with a set of predicted resources; determining a subset ofgatekeeper conditions based on the user ID; determining a subset ofpredicted resources based on the subset of gatekeeper conditions;transmitting an initial package of resources to the client computingdevice in response to the web page request, wherein the initial packageof resources comprises the subset of predicted resources; receiving arequest for an additional resource from the client computing device;updating the set of gatekeeper condition resource associations based onthe request for the additional resource, wherein the updating includesincrementing a resource counter associated with the additional resource;and transmitting the additional resource to the client computing devicein response to the request for the additional resource.
 12. The systemof claim 11, wherein the subset of predicted resources is determinedbased on the subset of gatekeeper conditions and the set of gatekeepercondition-resource associations.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein themethod further comprises: incrementing gatekeeper condition countersassociated with the subset of gatekeeper conditions, wherein thegatekeeper condition counters indicate total numbers of times the subsetof gatekeeper conditions were used for a specified period of time. 14.The system of claim 11, wherein the set of gatekeeper conditions areassociated with a pass or a fail for a set of gatekeeper functions. 15.The system of claim 11, wherein the method further comprisesincrementing one or more gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters inresponse to the request for the additional resource.
 16. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system,cause the computing system to perform a method comprising: receiving aweb page request associated with a user ID from a client computingdevice, wherein the user ID is associated with a user; generating a setof gatekeeper condition-resource associations that associate a set ofgatekeeper conditions with a set of predicted resources; determining asubset of gatekeeper conditions based on the user ID; determining asubset of predicted resources based on the subset of gatekeeperconditions; transmitting an initial package of resources to the clientcomputing device in response to the web page request, wherein theinitial package of resources comprises the subset of predictedresources; receiving a request for an additional resource from theclient computing device; updating the set of gatekeeper conditionresource associations based on the request for the additional resource,wherein the updating includes incrementing a resource counter associatedwith the additional resource; and transmitting the additional resourceto the client computing device in response to the request for theadditional resource.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the subset of predicted resources isdetermined based on the subset of gatekeeper conditions and the set ofgatekeeper condition-resource associations.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the method furthercomprises: incrementing gatekeeper condition counters associated withthe subset of gatekeeper conditions, wherein the gatekeeper conditioncounters indicate total numbers of times the subset of gatekeeperconditions were used for a specified period of time.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein theset of gatekeeper conditions are associated with a pass or a fail for aset of gatekeeper functions.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the method further comprisesincrementing one or more gatekeeper condition-resource pair counters inresponse to the request for the additional resource.